Hello, first post on these forums. I'm not quite sure where to turn to here and need some advice.

I've lost a ton of weight over the last two years(195 lbs!) working with my training and doing the main site Crossfit exercises and have recently gotten turned on to Gant's hybrid program(about 2 months into it).

Currently I'm at 180, about 12.5 percent body fat and about 2 months into what I would deem "heavier" training as prescribed (squats, deadlifts, etc) My long term goal is to have a physical that is very lean, strong. I have zero desire to bulk up. Think Michael Phelps physique or a gymnast. I'm enjoying throwing the heavy weight--and I'm seeing great progress. I was finally able to deadlift more than my body weight a few weeks ago(220 lbs) and was stoked. I love this but...

've recently set a new goal of wanting to run a half marathon in Jan as well. It's something I've wanted to do for many years but was too heavy/unmotivated to do so.

My question is this: Is it possible to train effectively with Gant's hybrid program and running or given this running goal would it simply be more effective to shift gears into Crossfit Endurance? Would my CNS be stable after doing a heavy lift, a heavy metacon and then running 30 minutes? I'd like to be able to do both but I don't want to over tax myself and risk injury.

The answer is probably, unfortunately, traditional race training. Now, if you just want to finish instead of doing well, there are semi-traditional programs (specifically, this one: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...8257-0,00.html) that will have you on the road for fewer hours per week and will get you through the marathon in an okay time, but you shouldn't fool yourself into thinking you're doing the absolute best you can. But you can actually do pretty well.

Thanks for the link, I bookmarked it. If you don't mind me asking, why don't you like CFE? I've never trained for a marathon, but I used to CFE to lower my 3 mile run for the USMC PFT, and my 5K went from 22:33 to 18:53. Certainly nothing spectacular, but I took nearly 4 minutes in about 3 months. I realize that's a comparatively short distance, but what is the shortcoming of CFE for longer distances?

[QUOTE= I realize that's a comparatively short distance, but what is the shortcoming of CFE for longer distances?[/QUOTE]

Let me state I am not a runner by any stretch. From what I gathered about CFE is that the guy who runs the site (BMac?) can't even finish races. I think it is because he doesn't put in the mileage, but that is my take.

i'm running a half marathon next week and have made excellent progress with 1-2 faster, shorter runs per week and one longer run mixed with weight training, judo, and some faster paced stuff and I've made great progress. Clearly if your goal is to run the best race possible and have a great time, relatively speaking, then you'll have to tailor your training down to be as run-specific as possible. However, I've made sub-2-hour half my goal at over 200 lbs while balancing plenty of other stuff and have had what I suspect is good success (we'll see come race day). Basically, it's largely dependent on your goals, time available, etc.

My guess would be that you'd obviously have to replace some of the Hybrid work with running, but in general you can do a balanced program that includes strength and metcon and still have success in the half.

Note: A full marathon may be a different story.

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i'm running a half marathon next week and have made excellent progress with 1-2 faster, shorter runs per week and one longer run mixed with weight training, judo, and some faster paced stuff and I've made great progress. Clearly if your goal is to run the best race possible and have a great time, relatively speaking, then you'll have to tailor your training down to be as run-specific as possible. However, I've made sub-2-hour half my goal at over 200 lbs while balancing plenty of other stuff and have had what I suspect is good success (we'll see come race day). Basically, it's largely dependent on your goals, time available, etc.

My guess would be that you'd obviously have to replace some of the Hybrid work with running, but in general you can do a balanced program that includes strength and metcon and still have success in the half.

Yeah, if you want to get good at running, why would you do thrusters? If you want to get better at running, then run. Do some deadlifts and presses once or twice a week and run a bunch and it'll work out.